Elon Musk’s Boring Company

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The Boring Company, a startup by Elon Musk created on December 17, 2016, is a company that Elon Musk created to tackle LA traffic. The traffic was driving him crazy, so he decided to build a big boring machine, and it shall be called The Boring Company. At first, people thought it was a joke. Elon later clarified, “I am going to do this.” On October 21st, In a tweet, Elon announced a tunnel part of the system would be open on December 10th and open the next day to the public. The tunnel begins at the SpaceX parking lot and goes on for two more miles north. Vehicles would be transported by electric skates inside of a loop, which is a tunnel. The whole purpose of the test tunnel is to demonstrate to the public the loop that would be constructed from Dodgers Stadium could be a thing.

The Boring Company uses tunnels, as tunnels are weatherproof and there is no limit on how many layers there can be. Tunnels could also travel freely through communities without disturbing them. While constructing the tunnels, people above them wouldn’t detect a movement at all. Tunnels are also resistant to earthquakes. According to structural engineers, tunnels are one of the safest places to be during an earthquake, as tunnels move with the soil, while structures sway back and forth.

Though tunnel building is expensive, Elon plans to cut the costs by 3-4 times. First, he would reduce the diameter of a regular tunnel from 28 feet to 14 feet by reducing the tunnel boring machines diameter, also known as TBM, to 14 feet. They could also increase the power of the TBM, also known as a tunneling boring machine. Before, tunneling would only happen 50 percent of the time, while the other time would be used to support the tunnel. With new technology, Elon plans to use TBMs capable of supporting the tunnel and boring simultaneously. Operations could also be cut by using natural resources as a source for power instead of fuel.

Elon has plans to build tunnels in other locations. The Boring Company has gotten approval for a tunnel to be made from Dodgers stadium to East Hollywood, Los Feliz, and Rampart village. The new route would only take 4 minutes, compared to 12 minutes during a game. The tunnel would be illuminated with concrete “shelves” as guidance for the skates.

Though fares aren’t finalized, the price for one trip would cost around 1 dollar. The purpose of the tunnels would only be during games and events at Dodger Stadium. Because the government isn’t funding the tunnel construction, the tunnel would be entirely privately funded by the Boring Company.